Training bioinformaticians in High Performance Computing

Area of Science:

• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology
• High Performance Computing (HPC)

Background:

• The rapid growth of biological datasets necessitates significant computational power and storage.
• Processing large-scale omics data (genomic, metagenomic) often requires High Performance Computing (HPC) resources.
• Substantial investments in HPC infrastructure demand efficient utilization and specialized training to minimize waste.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the experience of training researchers from diverse scientific disciplines in HPC for bioinformatics.
• To analyze the content and outcomes of HPC training courses within the ELIXIR framework.
• To address the need for bioinformatics-specific HPC training for interdisciplinary researchers.

Main Methods:

• Development and delivery of HPC training courses tailored for bioinformatics applications.
• Training researchers from various scientific backgrounds (biology, chemistry, physics, computer science).
• Evaluation of training content and participant outcomes within the ELIXIR European bioinformatics platform.

Main Results:

• Researchers from multiple disciplines gained proficiency in applying HPC to bioinformatics tasks.
• The training successfully addressed the need for specialized bioinformatics HPC skills.
• Analysis of course content and outcomes provided insights into effective training strategies.

Conclusions:

• Targeted HPC training is essential for researchers utilizing large-scale biological data.
• Effective training programs can enhance the utilization of supercomputing resources in bioinformatics.
• Interdisciplinary training initiatives, like those within ELIXIR, are vital for advancing bioinformatics research.